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FA charges Sascha Riether for violent stamp on Adnan Januzaj

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Fulham defender Sascha Riether has been charged with violent conduct by the FA following a stamp on Manchester United player Adnan Januzaj.

The foot of Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj is being stomped by Fulham player Sascha Riether

Photo: YouTube

The incident occurred in stoppage time at the end of the second-half during Fulham's 3-1 defeat to United at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

Riether was caught on camera giving Januzaj a kick as he lay on the floor and then appeared to deliberately stamp on the youngster's leg, sparking unsavoury scenes between the two sets of players.

The incident was missed by the match officials and the German initially went unpunished.

However, Riether was charged with violent conduct on Monday evening following a new pilot project launched by the FA that allows retrospective action to be taken on incidents that are not mentioned in the referee's match report.

An FA statement said: "Fulham's Sascha Riether has been charged by the FA for violent conduct following an incident which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video during his side's game against Manchester United on November 2 2013.

"The charge is in relation to an incident involving the defender and United's Adnan Januzaj which occurred in added time of Saturday's match at Craven Cottage.

"Riether is the first player to have been charged retrospectively by the FA under a new pilot project for potential 'not seen' incidents in Premier League matches.

"Previously, where the match officials had confirmed to the FA that none of them had seen an incident, the match referee was then asked to review all available video evidence before being asked what action, if any, he would have taken had it been seen.

"Under the new process, if an incident has not been seen by the match officials, a three-man panel of former elite referees Steve Dunn, Eddie Wolstenholme and Alan Wiley will be asked by the FA to review it and advise what, if any action, they believe the match referee should have taken had it been witnessed at the time.

"The panel were of the unanimous decision that it was an act of violent conduct."